Oil spill threatens wildlife on Darwin's Galapagos Islands

AN operation was under way last night to rescue wildlife from an oil slick that threatens the Galapagos Islands, whose fragile ecosystem inspired Darwin's theory of evolution.

Maria Eugenia Proano, of the Charles Darwin Foundation, said rescue workers had found and evacuated 12 seals and some birds that had come into contact with the oil slick, although no animals have yet died. The oil has been draining from an Ecuadorean tanker that ran aground on Tuesday off the islands off the South American coast which are one of the world's richest natural habitats.

Rodolfo Rendon, Ecuador's Environment Minister, said: "The currents are taking the oil to the south, where one of the largest seal colonies on the archipelago is situated." The Ecuadorean authorities have had to petition the United States to help them combat the slick as they do not have the resources to handle the estimated 1,000 gallons of fuel that have already spilled out from the tanker, Jessica.

The vessel ran aground near the island of San Cristobal, spilling some of the 240,000 gallons of oil it had been carrying. A sheet of oil began spreading around the ship, about half a mile off the coast, after it sprang a leak in the hull, leaving the ship listing at 25 degrees.

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The Ecuadorean fleet has been trying to contain the disaster with a makeshift fence around the worst area of the spill while Ecuadorean merchant marines are unloading the remaining fuel. But the arrival yesterday of members of the American Coastguard's pollution response team has offered the first hope that the slick may be kept away from the delicate and isolated Galapagos eco-system.

Unnatural disaster: the liquid cargo from the run aground ship Jessica threatens the islands' fragile ecosystem

However, there are fears that the bad weather forecast for today could hinder the clean-up operation and spread the spill over a much wider area. Rare marine life has already been affected by the spill, according to Elicier Cruz, the Galapagos National Park director. He said that - as well as the seals and sea lions - marine iguanas, birds, sharks and lobsters had come into contact with the fuel.

Due to the isolation of the islands and the creation of the Galapagos National Park, the wildlife, much of which cannot be found anywhere else on Earth, has been allowed to develop unmolested by human intervention.

One of the world's most endangered species, the giant tortoise, lives on the Galapagos Islands. The huge, slow-moving creatures are particularly vulnerable to the oil slick. Conservationists estimate that there are less than 800 still in existence. Giant tortoises can live up to 150 years, giving them one of the longest lifespans of any creature on the planet.

The islands are the primary tourist attraction for Ecuador and the number of visitors to the sites is limited, although last year there were some 60,000 as the cash-strapped country collected much-needed revenue. The thousands of visitors prompted environmentalists to claim that the islands' fragile ecosystem was being damaged.